The Deaf Knight
by Supersaiyangirl
Summary: What if Xander had been a little late in getting to the basement during 'The Zeppo'. The consequences with affect everyone. AU season three.
1. Prologue

The Deaf Knight

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New story, I know I should be writing my other stories, but this plot bunny just wouldn't go away!**

**Hope you like.**

**I don't own Xander or any other characters from BtVS. This is a close as I can get. *Sigh***

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Prologue

The first thing Xander was aware of when consciousness returned was pain. His whole left side hurt more than he'd ever experienced before. What the hell had happened. He tried to remember. He remembered following Jack O'Toole and his gang to the High School. He remembered fighting the zombies. He remembered going to the basement just in time to be shoved out of the way by O'Toole on his way out. He remembered the bomb. The bomb! Holy shit! He remembered seeing the timer, the panic as he realised that even the memories of Soldier Guy wouldn't help him with this one, that the girls were all above him in the library. He couldn't let the bomb kill everyone. He remembered doing the most stupid thing he'd ever done, he'd picked up the bomb with just over a minute on the clock and ran. He remembered getting to the quad and seeing there was less than ten seconds, throwing the bomb, turning away then heat, pain and blackness.

The fact that he was awake and in pain was a good sign that he was still alive. However the soldier memories were providing him with horrific images of people with their limbs blown off, he really didn't want to open his eyes to see he didn't have any legs. A quick wiggle test confirmed that all limbs were accounted for but his left hand hurt like a bitch when he moved it. Relief flooded him and he felt confident enough to open his eyes. He was in a room, a hospital room. Not much of a surprise there. He looked at his left arm. It was covered, from the middle of the palm right up to his shoulder, with plaster, and it was being held up by a sling connected to a stand by his bed. The was an unoccupied chair by his bed, it had a jacket draped across it, by the looks of it Giles's. But Giles was nowhere to be seen.

Xander turned an looked at the over side of his bed, there was a heart monitor there. Beeping along with his heartbeat, except it wasn't beeping. The little light moved across the screen like it should, but there was no beep to go with it, was it on silence? Xander frowned something wasn't right, there was something niggling at the back of his mind. Something was missing. Something that had been with him his whole life and was suddenly not there anymore. Suddenly it hit him. It was too quiet. He knew what hospitals were like. He'd been in a lot for one reason or other over the last few years. There was always something going on, even at night. People walking and talking in the corridors, doors opening and the sound of cars and ambulances, but he couldn't here any of it. He raised his right, pain free hand and scratched his cheek and froze. Normally when he needed to shave, rubbing against it would make a scratchy sound, but there was nothing, he heard nothing!

If he hadn't been staring at the door in shock, he would most likely have missed it opening, as yet again he didn't hear it, he was starting to get freaked out. Giles came in with a hot drink in his hand, he stopped when he saw Xander staring at him, he smiled. Giles said something, at least Xander thought he did as his lips moved and looked worried when Xander didn't respond. But Xander didn't know what Giles had said, he hadn't heard anything. Getting more freaked out by the second, Xander reached up in desperation to see if there was anything blocking his ears so he couldn't hear. Apart from a bandage, there was nothing that he could feel. His ears were clear of any blockages. Giles said something else and Xander tried to reply. He knew he'd said something, he felt his mouth and Adams Apple move, but he heard nothing. Nothing, silence, sound void, it pressed in on him from all sides. He started to move, speak anything to make a sound to hear anything. God he'd settle for hearing Deadboy, just to hear something! He knew he was speaking but didn't know what he was saying or if it made sense, by the concerned and startled look Giles was sending him, he guess he didn't. He panic attack very quickly descended into full on hyperventilating. He couldn't hear, he was deaf!

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**Worth it or not please tell.**

**Please note, I know very little about hospitals, American ones in particular so the details maybe a little off.**

**I know short, but it's just a prelude. **

**Please Review!**

**SSG**


	2. Chapter 1

The Deaf Knight

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**I finally had some inspiration for this. :)**

**Coolkat Avalon: I've no plans for superhero Xander, but at the same time he will not just fade into the background either. **

**Wonderbee31: Thanks! As those two are several seasons away I've not really thought about it.**

**I've decided that this is going to be a Xander/Faith pairing.**

**Enjoy!**

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Chapter 1

Giles stepped out of Xander's hospital room, he'd taken over from Faith for the night. The girl hadn't moved from Xander's bedside since he'd been moved in there. Faith, her reaction to Xander's injury was most unexpected. She'd only left tonight because she needed a shower and in her words to 'beat the shit out of something.' Giles suspected that it was something to do with the fact that Xander was likely the first person to risk his life to save hers, and she'd reacted in a far more protective manner than Buffy did.

Giles sighed as he reached the hot drinks machine, he frowned as he his mind turned to getting the drink. He never drank coffee and he didn't trust the stuff Americans call tea. So the safest better would be a hot chocolate. God he missed England sometimes, even the tea from these machines were better over there. As he waited for the drink to dispense, his mind turned once again to the event three nights ago. He would never forget the scene as there got to the quad after they'd heard the explosion. The quad was in ruins and most of the tower was damaged. But the worst thing was the crumpled body lying against one of the pillars, covered in burns and blood. Xander Harris.

The following few hours was a time he'd quite happily forget, after discovering that thankfully Xander was still alive, he'd called an ambulance. The only reason Xander wasn't facing charges was because Angel had picked up Jack O'Toole outside of the school, because he couldn't hear a heartbeat from him. O'Toole then confessed to setting the bomb. Mysteriously the car taking O'Toole from the police station to the jail exploded killing both O'Toole and the two officers, a few days later. The mayor came and covered the medical bills from the town council, saying that more young men should be like Xander. That was the essence, but Wilkins had used far more words than that. Only a politician could say so much and yet say so little. It was a good thing too as it was clear the bill was going to be a lot. Xander's parents weren't interested, they hadn't come to the hospital once since the incident. But from what Willow said, that wasn't unexpected.

The doctors said that he was lucky to be alive. He'd fractured and dislocated his left shoulder socket, fractured his left collar bone and shoulder blade, as well as broken his left arm in three places. Most likely from being thrown into that column. They said it was unlikely he'd ever regain full mobility in that arm. On top of all that he'd suffered severe burns and fractured several ribs.

Giles opened the door to the hospital room to find Xander awake and staring at him, but something was off, Xander looked, as the Americans would say, freaked out by something. Mind you waking up in a hospital after being court in an explosion would have that affect on anyone.

"Xander, I'm glad your awake," Giles said, then frowned when Xander didn't reply. Xander wasn't type to not respond, even if it was with one of his annoying jokes, but Xander was just continued staring at him and he looked even more 'freaked out'. Then the boy frowned and his right hand snapped up to his ears and seemed to be searching for something.

"Xander, are you alright?" Giles asked, this seemed to be just the wrong thing to do as it seemed to tip the boy over the edge. Xander started to thrash on his bed seemingly going into a panic attack. He started to babble incoherently, Giles couldn't follow any of it. When the stand that steadied his cast started to wobble Giles was spurred into action, he tried to restrain the boy before he did himself any damage.

"Xander! Stop this, your safe, your going to be alright," Giles said, but it didn't seem to make any difference. Then Xander started to repeat two words over and over. Two words that chilled Giles to his core.

"Can't hear, can't hear." Then Xander stopped talking as he started to hyperventilate. Feeling numb Giles hit the call button next to the bed to alert the nurses. Then he tried to comfort the boy, not an easy thing to do if the person your trying to comfort couldn't hear you. They had been so lucky in the passed few years that no one was permanently hurt. Even with supposed loss of mobility in one limb wouldn't have stopped Xander from helping out. In fact Giles suspected that the young man would have treated it as a battle scar, something to be proud of. But the loss of an entire sense? That was something completely different. Something that couldn't be ignored, something that couldn't simply be worked round. It would put Xander firmly out of the fight, permanently, not something the young man would find easy to deal with. As the nurses finally got to the room, Giles realised that all of their lives would be inherently changed by this. Life had just become far more complicated.

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Please tell me what you think! :)**


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